Big Corally Pink Peonie Wedding Bouquets

There are few things that make me want to plan another wedding. Mostly because ours was so special and also because it was very "us." BUT... every now and then I do come across some images on the ol' net that really make my heart hurt with full blooded wedding lust.

That being said (and I absolutely adored our wedding flowers) these here giant pink peonies make me want to redo our entire shindig. Possibly its just the place coral florals holds in the soft spot of my heart... but more likely its just because these flowers are AMAZING.

It's OK if you cried a little... just pretend you had to sneeze, I won't tell.

Sexy Bridal Shower Highlights

Happy St. Patrick's Day yesterday! Hope yours was safe and fun. I am marrying an Irishman in a week and a few days so you know we celebrate every year in one way or another. I am noticing that each year we have celebrated together has gotten progressively tamer, I guess we really are getting older. The constant through the years is that I make Jonathon corned beef and cabbage every Patty's day. I don't eat red meat, so every year I drool over the delicious smell of beef and beer simmering, but this year I thought, ENOUGH, I want some! So I made my own non-beef version with Jonathon's leftover carrots, cabbage, onions, potatoes and of course beer! It was soooo good. Ahem... on to the wedding stuff!

With a week to go until my bachelorette party (yes!) I thought this would be a good chance to post some of the highlights from my sexy bridal shower earlier this month. I haven't posted it yet because I mostly received lingerie and I want to keep that a bit private, but I am putting up the safer stuff. :)

My mom's best friend Rose threw this shower for me, she has been like my aunt my whole life and she did such a beautiful job of hosting. Thank you Rose!

Pretty, no? She also makes a mean guacamole. It was fun spending time with Rose, my mama and future mama and Rose's daughters Lisa and Julia who are like cousins to me.

Rose got me this amazing chocolate, strawberry and whipped cream cake that I ate like 5 slices of and which was from a very fancy French bakery in Montecito. It was so freaking good I can't even tell you how good. It did, however, say "Congratulation" on it, which cracked me up anew every time I looked at it. How perfect is that?

No seriously, I think that is the best cake I have ever eaten...

I just had so much fun at this shower hanging with the girls and joking around. We also played a couple of bridal party games like Bridal Bingo for which Rose had some cute bride and groom wine stoppers as prizes. My friend Tiff won twice and hilariously ended up with a pair of groom wine stoppers. We DO live in California, so....

I was a bit nervous about the gift portion of the shower since I have some very crazy friends and also a very crazy mom. My bridesmaid Julia at one point before the shower said "I seriously can not believe what my mom got you" so I was completely expecting to be mortified but things were a lot tamer than I imagined. Good thing too, because as you can see, I blush rather easily. How amazing is this homemade gift bag from my friend Julie? It says "Congratulations" on one side and "Jon is a lucky man" with another naked dude on the other side. :)

Of course, some of the "sexiest" gifts besides the lingerie were from my mom. I'm sure there's something so wrong with that, but I wouldn't expect any less. I know the picture's super dark but you can see my reaction below. We were pretty much laughing for a few hours straight. I had so much fun.

I love my crazy mom.

Plus I now have a perfect "bowquet" for the rehearsal that I am a little excited about.

After all of the guests left Jonathon came home and tried to guess what all I got, but I did my best to keep it all under wraps. It was such a fun day all in all, I felt so special. I love my friends!

Palm Springs Florist: Mary Cass at Jensen's

If you are a Palm Springs area bride looking for a florist have I got one for you. Jonathon and I were on a miserable trip trying to find sane and affordable florists in the Coachella Valley for the longest time. We dealt with non-listeners, crazy high prices, rude people who told us we were searching for a fairy tale that we couldn't afford when we were actually asking for something fairly simple. It was a nightmare.

Luckily, however, we were referred to Mary Cass, the director of floral operations at Jensen's Fine Foods. I was very skeptical of using a grocery store for our bouquets and boutonnieres, but once we met Mary we knew that we had found the right person and florist. She took her time with us during our meeting, listened to our ideas and suggested ways to keep our vision but make it affordable, and in addition to being so sweet she also gave us this beautiful rose and a bride and groom cookie as a thank you for booking with her. I seriously can not tell you how sweet this woman is. Now lets just hope the flowers come out as great as Mary has said they would!

Isn't this a pretty flower?

Ojai Succulent Farm Field Trip: Desert Images

Are you sick of succulents yet? Me neither :) This weekend my mission is to successfully make the world's most perfect succulent wreaths. God help me.

I know I should probably not give this secret treasure away, but we found the BEST succulent and cactus nursery in Ojai called Desert Images. If you are searching for variety and really decent prices, this place is definitely the spot. We got all of our plants there this week. I think it is pretty funny we are going to bring cacti to the desert...

Some of the variety at Desert Images. I love the little furry ones with the pink flowers, they look like a bobble-head with a cute bow:

It was a bit tricky getting the flats back to my mom's place without a truck, but we managed. Don't they look like crazy prehistoric plants or some Tim Burton creation? I know they aren't very weddingy or romantic but I think they are pretty awesome and they are more eco-friendly than cut flowers. I am VERY stoked/nervous to see the end result.

We were a little proud of our findings.

J.Crew Coral Collection

I know i have taken a couple days hiatus from the bloggy world but I have been so busy churning out wedding goodness. It has been so difficult for me to come up with posts recently too because I want to share EVERYTHING that I have been DIYing but I want to keep it all a surprise too. I am bursting to share!

In the meantime, I have great news. With 25 days to go, all 4 bridesmaids finally have dresses! It was a year in the works but I think the girls are all going to look stunning but also like their own unique selves.

One thing I can definitely share on here that isn't giving any mystery about our wedding away is my fun shopping trip to J.Crew. It is total coral explosion in there. I couldn't stop pointing all the coral out to Jonathon and making him take my picture to send to the girls for accessorizing. They have everything from flip flops to cardigans. I have to admit I am pretty proud of my forethought way back in March or April of last year when we picked coral for a wedding color. Since then I have heard nothing but whining about how hard that color is to find and now, a few weeks shy of our wedding it is seriously EVERYwhere. I'm pretty happy about that.

My cousin Rachel was the last to get her bridesmaid's dress and I saw this one on J.Crew.com so I went in to check it out in person. Sorry for the awful pic quality but we were taking it to send her more than to share here. :)

Here it is in a slightly more professional photo. I think it is damn cute and am going to buy it off of her after the wedding if she never wants to wear it again.

I also tried this Vintage zebra dress on and it is even cuter than this picture below in person. I felt like an art gallery director in it. That or a lady who lunches... Or a hot bride. It's fab.

Back to coraltensity. I thought this necklace was really cute with the beads and the bows and they had quite a bit more than that too. Actually Target has a pretty decent coral and gold jewelry selection right now too, if you happen to be looking.

This floral headband caught my eye too, I think it is so sweet but a little more LOOK AT ME than I usually am. You can see over my shoulder in the second pic that they are also selling one that is straight up coral, but it also has a weird army green flower with it. I thought the soft pinks and ivories were a bit nicer.

I have yet to see any of my moms or bridesmaids or groomsmen's accessories but I am sure they are all going to look amazing. I don't really have my own jewelry picked out yet either, come to think of it. Eh, I have three weeks, whats the hurry?! :)

Moller's Garden Center Succulents

When we were down in Palm Desert meeting with our priest last weekend I went by Moller's Garden Center to check out the desert's best succulents. They had such good variety, and the prices weren't mind-blowing for their cheapness or expense so I guess who's complaining, right? We have a place in Ojai that I will post on soon that is a bit less pricey and have some really exotic stuff, but this wasn't too shabby either.

They even had some big mamajamas. These were $40 a piece, aren't they awesome!

3" potted succulents for $3 a pop.

Besides the potted single plants Moller's had some large and small mixed cactus and succulent arrangements in ceramic pots for $40 and $15 respectively. These were a little too cactuscentric for my, but the price is not too shabby if you're in the market.

I just love bouganvillia, I dont think there is anything including cactus that says desert to me more. It is so soft, exotic and romantic. I especially love the pink and orange "rosenka" variety. You will be seeing it at our wedding shindig for sure.

OMG have you ever seen anything so beautiful as these poppies? These made me want to change our entire reception to incorporate them as centerpieces. Poppies, poppies. It may just happen...